Internet of things supporting sustainable solid waste management: global insights, hotspots, and research trends

Sustainable solid waste management is a critical component of the infrastructure essential for developing smart cities. Technological innovations, the Internet of Things in particular, are significant enablers for smart city applications, including solid waste management. The present analysis is dedicated to quantifying and assessing research progress in solid waste management via IoT applications, recognizing research dynamics as a crucial innovation metric. The objective is to offer invaluable insights to both practitioners and researchers, thereby guiding future research directions. The Scopus database was used to perform an in-depth investigation of scientific publications on IoT supporting solid waste management. VOSviewer software was employed to investigate knowledge networks and prominent topics. The study identified 325 documents, with India leading the field with 160 documents (49.2%). Developing countries, mostly ones in the Asiatic region, have contributed significantly. Motor themes shaping the future of the field including more integration of artificial intelligence and blockchain techniques within IoT-enabled solid waste management systems, and IoT potential in advancing circular economy principles. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed an increased demand for innovative IoT-based frameworks. Key challenges, especially for developing countries, include the lack of benchmarking systems, security concerns, standardization, and shifts in social behavior. Major prerequisites include raising funds, making major investments, promoting environmental education, enabling conservation initiatives, and having a highly skilled staff with competence in developing and utilizing cutting-edge IoT technologies. This analysis concludes IoT's potential to swiftly advance Sustainable Development Goals and drive major advances in IoT-based solid waste management research and applications.